Fixed-rate mortgages reversed course this week, inching up, following weeks of declines, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Still, mortgage rates remained near historical lows with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage well-below 4 percent this week and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage remaining under 3 percent.

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"Mortgage rates ticked up this week for the first time in 2015 following positive home sales reports,” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. New-home sales jumped 11.6 percent in December, beating market expectations, while existing-home sales rose 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.04 million homes in December.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 29:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.66 percent, with an average 0.6 point, increasing from last week’s 3.63 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.32 percent.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.98 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 2.93 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.40 percent.

• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.86 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 2.83 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.12 percent.
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.38 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 2.37 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.55 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac